Secure Card Payments Case Study

The Business Problem

Card payments in the shops relied on an older PayPal checkout. As banks moved to Strong Customer Authentication, where the card holder confirms a payment with their bank through 3D Secure, the old approach no longer met the standard customers expected. Some shoppers had to leave the site to pay, and when a payment went wrong there was little to tell ACE or the customer what had happened, so problems surfaced as phone calls rather than clear information.

The Solution

wildesoft.net rebuilt the shops' checkout around PayPal's enhanced card payments. Customers can now pay by card directly on the shop page, with 3D Secure checks built in so the bank can confirm the payment when needed. The work was released carefully:

• an "enhanced" mode that could be switched on shop by shop, with the original checkout kept as a fallback
• a separate test shop wired to PayPal's sandbox, so changes could be proven before going live
• checks that personalisation details, such as names or initials for garments, are filled in before card details are taken
• a mandatory email address, so every buyer receives confirmation
• a final check with PayPal before each payment is captured, to stop an order being charged twice.

Later work added clearer messages for customers when PayPal has a problem, and automatic error emails to ACE so issues are seen immediately.

The Result

ACE's shops now take card payments in line with modern banking security, without sending customers away from the shop. Duplicate charges are guarded against, and payment problems are reported straight away instead of being discovered later.

See all case studies for White Label Ordering